The smart money's on brain-boosting pills for every ill

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Can't remember phone numbers, worried about a forthcoming exam
or desperately want to give up smoking? In future, the answer will
be simple: just pop a pill.

The idea that an array of easily available and addiction-free
drugs could be used to improve memory or increase intelligence is
the stuff of science fiction. But a new report by leading
psychologists and neuroscientists claims there soon really will be
a pill for every ill.

"It is possible that (advances) could usher in a new era of drug
use without addiction," says the report by Foresight, a British
Government panel of scientific experts.

"In a world that is increasingly non-stop and competitive, the
individual's use of such substances may move from the fringe to the
norm."

But the report says the widespread adoption of new
brain-enhancing drugs would not be without risks and would raise
"significant ethical, social and practical issues".

Drugs that work on the brain are already common  many
people can hardly start their days without mind-sharpening caffeine
or nicotine.

Launching the report on Wednesday, the Government's chief
scientific adviser, Sir David King, said brain drugs developed to
treat diseases such as Alzheimer's were likely to find increased
use among healthy people out to improve perception, memory,
planning or judgement.

Ritalin, given to children with attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder, is sometimes used by healthy people to boost mental
performance. Modafinil, a drug developed to treat narcolepsy, has
been shown to reduce impulsiveness and help people focus on
problems.

"It improves working memory  your ability to remember
telephone numbers  it gives you an extra digit or two," said
Trevor Robbins, an experimental psychologist at Cambridge
University and an author of the Foresight report.

In the longer term, drugs that can delete painful memories could
also be used routinely. "We are now looking 20 to 25 years ahead,"
Professor Robbins said. "Very basic science is showing that it is
possible to call up a memory, knock it on the head and produce
selective amnesia."